“In what state is Mount Rushmore located?” “At its southern border, what state aligns with 45 degrees latitude on the map?” (Tennessee, of course!) HUMS Geobee competitors were recently faced with these and many other challenging geography-related questions. On Friday, January 4, at an all-school student assembly, HUMS held its annual National Geographic Geobee competition, coordinated by social studies teachers Sarah Ibson and Ruth Hoogenboom. Initial competitions were conducted in social studies classes. The winners of the in-class competitions were invited to compete in the finals which took place on January 4. Contest finalists included Sally Goodwin, Sarah Boland, Colin Fennelly, Nell Tarno, Jurni DeCasas, Ethan Riddell, Isabel Carr, Seth Davidson, Keegan McKenna and Erin Magill.

The moderator for the final competition was Harwood co-principal Lisa Atwood. After eight challenging rounds of competition, Colin Fennelly ultimately emerged as the winner of the competition with Isabel Carr taking second place. Fennelly will now take a written test to qualify him for the state competition in April. If he wins the states he will have the opportunity to compete in the National Geobee as the Vermont state representative in late spring 2013.